From Early Warnings to Early Action: Inside WFP’s Climate Response with Jesse Mason

‘Pathway to WFP’ is the LinkedIn career series by the World Food Programme investigating the professional backgrounds and life choices that led our staff to the world’s largest humanitarian agency. Subscribe to the newsletter to receive new episodes directly in your inbox!

In this month’s edition of our newsletter – we highlight climate! As extreme weather events become more frequent and intense, humanitarian agencies like WFP are adapting to help communities withstand the impacts.

Read more as we delve into the unique ways WFP is responding to the climate crisis—by harnessing cutting-edge tools and strategies, such as anticipatory action, AI-enhanced forecasting, and multi-sectoral partnerships. From reducing disaster response times to empowering governments with advanced climate risk data, WFP is helping vulnerable communities stay resilient against an uncertain climate future.

Hear from Jesse Mason , our resident climate expert as he explains the work WFP does in assessing weather risks and developing innovative solutions.

Introduce yourself! What is your role at WFP? Where do you work and where are you from?

My name is Jesse Mason, I am from Vancouver British Columbia where I learned to ski, rock climb, hike, the importance of a healthy climate and, of course when you live on the “Wet” Coast, the importance of a good weather forecast!

I work at WFP Headquarters in Rome, Italy. I joined WFP 10 years ago in the Emergency Division, where I focused on assessing weather risks for WFP programmes and issuing early warnings for extreme weather events.

In the Emergency Division, I launched what began as a pilot and is now WFP’s Anticipatory Action programme. This initiative, in partnership with the German Red Cross, the German Federal Foreign Office, and other like-minded practitioners, promotes a shift in humanitarian response—from reacting to crises to proactively preparing for them. Our goal is to activate humanitarian aid between an early warning alert and the onset of extreme weather impacts, reducing the need for costly emergency responses to predictable hazards.

As extreme weather becomes more frequent, programmes like Anticipatory Action are crucial in helping WFP address the climate crisis, providing communities, governments, and partners with the information and resources needed to mitigate impacts.

Today, I lead WFP’s Early Warning System and Anticipatory Action Programme, which has expanded to cover 40 countries and approximately 5 million people in 2024.

Tell us about your professional journey: how did you start your career? What is your academic and previous professional background.

My academic background is in Atmospheric Science, with a focus on severe weather and wind energy. Growing up in Vancouver, I developed an intrinsic connection to weather since it influences nearly every aspect of life—from skiing and surfing to hiking and even commuting. This is where my passion for the environment and my interest in weather forecasting and clean energy first took root.?

Before joining WFP, I spent many years in the private sector, where I provided early warning and weather information across diverse sectors, including television, sporting events, insurance, academic research in numerical weather prediction models, and energy trading.

Each of these roles gave me unique insights into how people and organizations use weather forecasts to make risk-based decisions, manage costs, and prepare for potential impacts. This could mean anything from postponing outdoor events or construction to buying or selling energy like wind and solar, or trading soft commodities based on seasonal forecasts or an impending storm. During this time, I also became increasingly interested in how my skills in extreme weather and impact-based forecasting could be applied in a humanitarian context.?

What brought you to WFP? Feel free to expand on how you joined the organization, and how your experience has been so far.

Fate might have played a role, but one day I came across a dream job vacancy on a technical weather website—a unique place to find a WFP job listing. WFP was looking for a climate scientist to join their Analysis and Early Warning Team to help manage the growing risks of extreme weather. The application process was extensive, involving interviews and online tests, but a few months after our daughter was born, WFP offered me my first contract in Rome, Italy. With that, my wife, our cat, our six-month-old daughter, and I embraced this change, sold everything, and moved to Italy.

Over the past ten years, we’ve had incredible adventures, plenty of challenges, and endless learning, and we’re glad we made the leap to join WFP. I’ve been incredibly fortunate to find a job and an organization that constantly encourages me to do more, equipping me with resources, guidance, and a supportive environment to grow and expand WFP’s climate programmes. When I joined, I was the only meteorologist on staff; today, we have seven across the globe who help bring advanced tools to governments and communities that need better early warnings and weather information.

Seeing the anticipatory action programme grow from five countries in 2015 to 40 in 2024 has been a highlight, as has learning from new colleagues across HQ, regional bureaus, and country teams. Above all, I’ve formed incredible friendships, seen how programme impacts people most vulnerable to climate extremes, and shown my daughter the value of following your dreams and looking out for others.?

What are some of your day-to-day responsibilities at work?

These days, my main responsibilities involve managing our team and ensuring that anticipatory action is integrated across key WFP programmes, including cash-based transfers, social protection, resilience, and emergency response. When I first joined WFP, my day-to-day was spent analyzing weather maps, computer forecasts, and vulnerability data. Now, most of that work is handled by our team of meteorologists and Anticipatory Action Coordinators across HQ and, offices in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

Recently, I launched the Women Scientist Accelerator Programme, in partnership with NORCAP. This initiative aims to increase the number of women scientists in the field by providing a two-year placement at WFP: the first year at HQ and the second year in a field office. I’ve also started an AI workstream to enhance early warning systems, funded by Google.org in partnership with Oxford University and the governments of Kenya, Ethiopia, and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in East Africa. This innovative project is transforming how national weather services deliver forecasts, using AI, cloud computing, and personal computers to generate high-resolution probabilistic forecasts—a glimpse into WFP’s vision for supporting government climate adaptation.

I also lead WFP’s participation in the World Meteorological Organization (WMO)’s Hydromet Alliance, Early Warning for All, and the Systematic Observation Financing Facility (SOFF), aligning meteorological services in Europe and Africa with WFP partner governments. These collaborations strengthen and enhance weather forecasting capabilities in countries on the front-lines of climate change. Building and coordinating these diverse partnerships and initiatives takes up a significant part of my day, but they’re essential to expanding WFP’s climate resilience work.

What is the most rewarding part of working at WFP?

For me, it’s a dream come true to develop and deliver cutting-edge solutions for some of the world’s toughest challenges, especially to people in remote regions who need it the most. The friendships, the people, and our shared vision for a more peaceful future make waking up and coming to work at WFP something I look forward to every day.

What are some of the challenges you’ve faced in your job and how did you overcome them?

Managing change in an organization as large as WFP has been a significant challenge. The programmes I work on aim to change how humanitarians approach their work, using new technologies and methods to tackle increasingly complex issues. This has required me to seek guidance from colleagues across departments to navigate existing structures, processes, and approval channels, which hasn’t always been easy.

But at WFP, staff and partners constantly confront seemingly impossible challenges. It’s been inspiring to see teams from finance, legal, programming, HR, front office, and technical departments come together to find solutions.

From your experience, what can humanitarian agencies such as WFP do to tackle climate crisis and how can the world support?

The climate crisis touches every part of our lives, which means it’s a problem that needs everyone’s attention—not just humanitarian agencies.

Tackling it effectively requires new partnerships, fresh ideas, and innovative approaches. Our team in the Climate and Resilience Service shows what that can look like in 2024, using tools like anticipatory action, climate risk insurance, and AI, combined with programmes that operate at scale in challenging contexts.

WFP has a crucial role to play in helping countries adapt to the climate crisis, especially in fragile and conflict-affected regions where our programmes, relationships with governments, and local knowledge serve as vital lifelines for climate adaptation. These regions historically have seen low investment in climate initiatives, and organizations like WFP can leverage their presence to support the scaling up of climate action where it’s needed most.

Can you share 3 tips on how to pursue a similar career?

Follow your heart. If you love what you do, I am confident you will find the right career.

• Gain hands-on experience and build technical expertise:?A technical degree in climate science or a related area is key, but be ready to step into the field and do the hard work—practical experience is invaluable.
• Start with internships or entry-level opportunities in international settings:?Look for internships, Junior Professional Officer (JPO) positions, or volunteer roles that allow you to gain experience and build a foundation in the field you love.
• Hone your communication skills:?Consider adding communication courses to your skill set—being able to speak effectively about complex issues is crucial in this line of work.

Thank you Jesse!

Let us know your thoughts and questions and share these career tips with the future humanitarians in your LinkedIn connections. Subscribe to our ‘Pathway to WFP’ newsletter to receive the next episode in your inbox!